


Enigma

by florin



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: And so gay, College AU, I love angst, Keith is so sad, Lance is bisexual, M/M, Multi, Voltron, angsty keith, im not even sorry for hurting them, lance gets hurt but whats new, lance is bilingual, scholar lance, shitty things happen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-24
Updated: 2018-12-24
Packaged: 2019-09-26 00:38:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,628
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17131733
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/florin/pseuds/florin
Summary: Even if it was going to end in ruin, Lance was going to solve the enigma that was Keith.





	Enigma

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know what you guys think!

September 1

"Okay, Lance, you're sure you have everything?" Lance's mother rushed furiously around his dorm room, making a mental checklist of everything in the room. Lance's roommate was sitting on a futon below his bed. He completely ignored all the commotion, his parents had left a while ago.

"Yes, mom, I promise you everything is here. And if I need something I can always go to the store and pick it up. I'll be fine, I swear," Lance reassured her. His dad stood idly by the door, allowing his wife to continue to inspect the room. "Mom, seriously, I love you, and I will miss you but you have to go now or you never will."

A wistful look passed over Mrs. McClain's face. She wasn't sad, just realizing that her son was moving on in his life and becoming independent. "Well, call us if you need _anything._ Also stay out of trouble." She gave Lance a sad look as he pulled her into a hug. His dad gave him a final pat on the back before the pair left and let Lance be. Lance's roommate stayed quiet the entire time. Lance pulled his phone out of his back pocket and quickly checked his snapchat. Thanks to the school run facebook he'd met a number of students over the summer and had been talking to them for a while. The majority of them were talking about a party that was going on later that night. He planned on going but hadn't yet found anyone in the group to meet up and go with. The house was only a block from campus so getting back wasn't of any concern. The other issue was that he knew absolutely no one going to the school. Not a single person from his high school in Arizona was going to Prussett. Being that it was in Oregon, and most kids from his school went to either ASU or a California school, it made sense. However, it worried him that he had absolutely no connections.

His roommate, Hunk, glanced over to see Lance reading the group chat. The two were both in it, but never really talked about it. Hunk liked Lance a lot and wanted him to get to know people the way Hunk already did. Hunk made Lance an offer, "Hey why don't you and I walk to the party together. I'm going to my girlfriend's in a bit, but she and her roommate are going. We can all go at like 8:15?"

Lance perked up a bit. Hunk and he didn't talk much over the summer, he knew they were relatively similar, but they never really took the time to discuss anything but dorm and food arrangements. "That would be cool, yeah." Hunk smiled and turned his attention back to his phone. He left shortly after, informing Lance that he would be back around 8:15 to walk to the party. Lance had the room to himself and had no idea what to do. 

Lance had never been one to party. The first time he got drunk and high was senior year of high school. He wasn't one to go out of his way to do crazy things. While he almost always went along with the plan. He hadn't even fully accepted being himself, due to the pressure from his parents and the people in his hometown. He wasn't afraid of who he was, he just didn't want to scare people off by being himself. Overall, Lance was in a strange mindset. He had no security with the lack of friends and had no idea what the reception of his personality would be like. He chose to go to the party purely to get an idea of the vibe at Prussett. It was a very last minute decision to attend the school, and therefore he knew very little about it besides the town it was in and that it had six thousand students. He was worried. Not scared nor afraid, just worried.

Lance took the time to shower and pick out a relatively understated outfit. He spent the last few hours hanging out in his bed. When 8:15 rolled around and Hunk was nowhere to be seen, Lance began to become antsy. He really didn't want to be the guy no one knew showing up to a party alone. Luckily, right when Lance was about to lose all hope, Hunk reentered the dorm followed by two girls.

"You ready?" Hunk asked Lance. Lance muttered a quick yes. He climbed down from his bed and joined the three. "Lance meet my girlfriend Shay and her roommate Charlie." Both of the girls smiled and gave Lance small waves.  Lance grabbed his wallet and followed Hunk and the two girls into the hall. The boys resident assistant was perched in his doorway talking to one of the other boys from the hall. The group made their way out of the hall and into the warm night air. There were groups of people walking all around campus. Hunk and Shay clasped hands and took the lead of Lance and Charlie.

"So, Lance?" Charlie hummed, "You're from Arizona?"

"Yeah, Sedona," Lance smiled down at her. She was cute. "I'll be the first to say that this is a huge difference from there."

"Oh, I'm sure. I was raised in Eugene so I didn't move very far for school. What made you chose Prussett?" She was quite interested in Lance. He couldn't tell if it was genuine wonder or flirting. He hoped a little of both.

"Mostly my parents wanting me to go to a really nice school. I was planning on just working the first year and then deciding where to go. But, the thought of not starting my own life terrified me so, like, two weeks before the deadline I enrolled. Plus, now I get to meet cute girls like you," Lance winked.

"That's sweet, but I'm super gay" she laughed.

"No shit? I'm bi so," Lance smiled. Charlie returned the smile. Lance was glad to have met at least one other gay person, He had no idea what the demographics of the school were, so to know there was at least someone else who got it, he felt more comfortable.

The two continued on in silence, following at the heels of Shay and Hunk. Not too long after, the pair stopped in front of a decent sized house. It wasn't nice by any means; it was obviously a house meant for college kids. The windows lit up with blue and green lights and the sidewalk shook from the music inside. When they stepped up to the door it swung open and the scent of cheap beer and puke flooded out of the house. Hunk and Shay walked in followed by Charlie, then Lance. Lance shut the door behind him and followed Charlie into the kitchen. Lance could immediately tell who the guy in charge was. He was leaned up against the kitchen counter, talking to a girl and two guys. He had jet black hair with a shock of white at the front. His eyes were so brown they were almost black. He towered over Lance, and Lance was relatively tall. Not only that, but the guy was built. The most interesting thing about him was the large scar that went across the bridge of his nose and stopped in the center of each cheek. Lance only realized he'd been staring when the guy looked at him with his eyebrows furrowed.

"Hey, you got a problem?" he asked. It wasn't in a mean way, more of a "seriously if you have a problem tell me and I'll help" kind of way.

"No, uhm, sorry I-" he cut Lance off.

"Come here," he motioned for Lance to walk over. Hunk, Shay, and Charlie had disappeared at this point so he was completely alone. The group that had been previously standing next to the taller boy had walked away. "What's your name? I've never seen you around before."

"Lance and, yeah well I'm a freshman so that makes sense," Lance laughed awkwardly while scratching his neck.

"Well, I figured. You have that awkward, unsure freshman vibe all of you guys have. I meant around town. It's not a huge school. Most of the kids are from surrounding towns so we all kinda know each other."

"Oh, well, I'm from Sedona, Arizona so that's why," Lance shrugged. He was surprised at how friendly the guy was being. Especially since his entire appearance said he wouldn't be.

"Shit, well that would be why. I'm Shiro by the way. I'm assuming you don't know anyone but your roommate right?" Lance nodded. "You had anything to drink?" Lance shook his head. "Keith!"

Shiro yelled into the crowd of people huddle around the beer pong table. One of the heads turned up slowly and then completely around. A boy with the same jet black hair emerged from the crowd. He was wearing the most impractical outfit for the summer Lance could possibly imagine. From top to bottom he wore all black. Black boots, black ripped skinny jeans, and a black t-shirt with a chewed up neckline. He had a small silver chain around his neck. He had black nail polish on all but one of his nails. Three of his fingers had large silver rings on them. There was a small rose tattoo on his left middle finger and several other random ones up and down his arms. His hair was pulled into a half-up-half-down sort of thing, which showed off his pierced ears. His eyes were almost a purpley-grey, and they had a look of annoyance and fatigue in them. He made his way over to Shiro and immediately leaned against the counter. Lance was completely taken aback. He couldn't take his eyes off of the shorter boy. Normally, being his flirty self, Lance would've immediately broken into over the top banter. However, for about three reasons, Lance figured this was a bad idea. One, Lance could already tell this guy wanted nothing to do with either Lance or the party. Two, everyone was nearby so if it crashed and burned, everyone would say. Three, in order to make at least one friend, Lance decided that flirting wasn't the best way to get one.

"Keith, this is Lance," Shiro motioned to Lance who stood rigidly next to Shiro. He wasn't sure whether he was afraid of Keith or intrigued by him, and in turn had no idea how to act.

"Cool," Keith brushed it off, "That all you wanted? Because I thought you told me if I came here we wouldn't do this whole meeting people thing again."

"I'm right here," Lance waved. Keith glared at him and looked back at Shiro.

"Can you just get him a drink? He's from Arizona and literally knows nobody so can you not be a raging dick for three hours and show the kid a good time?" Shiro argued. Keith's faced changed from annoyed to irritated. He clearly wanted to go back to whatever he was doing.

"The cooler is literally right there," Keith pointed to a giant cooler about four feet from Lance.

"For the love of God Keith, be a decent person for once," Shiro shook his head and walked away in shame. Lance stood with his hands in his pockets waiting for Keith to say something.

"Grab a beer and follow me. Also, stop staring, it's weird," Keith began to walk away. Lance tried to argue but soon realized Keith was leaving without him. He grabbed four bottles by the necks and followed Keith to wherever he was going. The two snaked their way through the crowd to the stairs at the back of the house. They both went quickly upstairs to not attract any attention. At the top of the stairs, they took a sharp turn and came to a small door that Lance assumed to lead to a crawl space. When Keith opened it, though, Lance was greeted by fresh air and moonlight. Keith crawled out the door and sat a few feet in front of it. He looked back at Lance and held his hand out to grab the beers. Lance handed them to him carefully and the climbed out the door.

"Shut it," Keith muttered, popping the cap off one of the beers. He handed it to Lance.

"So..." Lance mumbled.

"So what?" Keith groaned. He opened another beer for himself and drank the majority of it in one sip.

"Why'd we come out here?" Lance question, tapping the cold bottle with his fingers.

"Because everyone in there is drunk off their ass and that's not the way to meet people. Besides, if Shiro finds out I didn't hang with you he'll be pissed," Lance could tell Keith wanted absolutely nothing to do with him at the moment.

"What's up with that? Shiro telling you to do stuff?" Lance asked. It was way too forward and he realized it after he asked.

"Why do you care? I met you five minutes ago. We're not friends so I'm not unpacking my life with you," Keith pulled a pack of cigarettes out from his front pocket. The box was mangled, but Lance could see they were American Spirit Blues. "You smoke?"

"Sometimes," Lance shrugged. He smoked more than sometimes, but Keith didn't need to know that. Keith pulled two out of the pack and put one between his teeth. He handed the other one to Lance without looking up. Keith pulled a lighter out his pocket next and lit his cigarette. He then handed it to Lance to light his, once again, without looking up. The two sat in silence on the roof periodically taking drags of their respective cigarettes. Keith finished his and flicked it off towards the gutter. He immediately pulled out another and smoked that one too. After boy boys were done, they remained in their, surprisingly, comfortable silence. Keith cracked his knuckles, and Lance downed the rest of his beer. Keith glanced over at Lance who was staring out over the other houses in the neighborhood. Keith took a deep breath.

"Look," Keith grumbled, "Sorry about being a dick, I just did not want to be at this fucking party."

Lance was shocked that Keith had said anything. In Lance's limited knowledge of him, he didn't seem like the type to break the silence first.

"I get it. Neither did I, honestly, I just came to try and meet people," Lance smiled.

"Well, Lance, it's nice to meet you." Keith gave Lance a small smile. Lance was confused. He was typically good at reading people's character, but Keith was difficult. He could tell Keith had walls, and that they were strong and likely impossible to break down. But he couldn't tell why. He didn't understand his harshness turned sudden kindness. He was like a storm that clears into a rainbow.

In the midst of their thoughts, Keith noticed a car inching down the street. "Lance, lower down and follow me."

"What? What's going on?" Lance looked over at where Keith had been staring and noticed the car. As it passed through the street lamp he immediately recognized it. Of course, being the beginning of a new semester, the cops were patrolling everywhere. And unfortunately for the pair, they were sitting on the roof of a booming party house, holding beers. 

"We can jump down around back there's a shed," Keith waved Lance to follow him again. This time though, instead of him being angry doing it, he was being cautious.

"Why can't we just go back inside?" Lance asked.

"Two reasons. One, if they see us open it they're gonna come for us first and immediately storm the party. Two, they're gonna storm the party anyway and getting out of a crowded house without getting a minor is not possible," Keith crawled along the roof slowly with Lance right behind. Once they made it to the shed Keith had mentioned, Keith immediately jumped down. Lance followed suit and the pair peered around the shed at where the cop had parked. The car was empty and the cop was nowhere to be seen. "Okay, so we're not going that way."

"There's a trail over that way that goes back to campus. It's kind of long, but I bet there are no cops anywhere in there," Lance suggested. Keith nodded slightly and looked around the other way in the direction of the trail. After assuring themselves it was clear, the pair made their way towards it. Every few feet they'd look around to ensure that they were no officers around. For the most part, they believed they were safe. However, Lance hadn't realized he was still clutching an unopened beer. So, when they were right near the trail and Lance's phone started ringing, the cop that was stalking around the house immediately turned his flashlight towards the boys. Stunned, Lance dropped the bottle and Keith took off down the trail. It took Lance a few seconds to come to and start running, but at that point, the cop was too close for comfort. He entered the mouth of the trail and let out in a dead sprint. After a few seconds, he felt an arm wrap around his wrist and yank him into the trees. He was so caught off guard that he tried screaming but another hand clasped tightly over his mouth. 

"Shut up," Lance heard Keith whisper. Seconds later, the cop came hurtling down the trail, his flashlight swinging, searching for the boys. Lance's breathing began to slow and Keith took his hand off Lance's mouth. After the cop was nowhere to be seen, the boys exited the trees and found themselves back on the trail. "You've never been chased by cops before have you?"

"No?! Is that just a regular occurrence?" Lance whisper yelled. He was still partially frantic. Keith only smiled.

"Come on," Keith headed back down the trail. There was an ease to his voice now as if this had somehow made him okay with Lance's being there. Lance felt the previous tension melt a bit. He also couldn't help but think of how quickly Keith thought to pull him into the trees. Maybe he wasn't always such a hard ass.

Lane had been correct. The trail was incredibly long and it seemed like hours before they even saw a glimpse of campus. Keith had smoked two more cigarettes in that time. Finally, one of the halls was visible through the trees. They continued walking until they found themselves in the quad. Lance's dorm was in the corner.

"Well, my dorms over there," Lance mumbled. They both stood awkwardly next to each other, not really knowing how to end the night.

"I have to go back to Shiro's anyway and help him clean up. I'm sure everyone's either left or been kicked out at this point," Keith answered. He shoved his hands into his front pockets.

"You're going back? After all that?" Lance inquired. He was shocked Keith was even considering going back.

"Yeah, I'll be fine. Once the party's over the cops usually leave anyway, so there's nothing I have to worry about," Keith said plainly. Lance could tell he's done this before.

"You want me to-," Lance tried, but Keith cut him off.

"Go back to your dorm, Lance," Keith shut Lance up, "Maybe I'll see you around." With that, Keith turned around and headed back in the direction of the party. Lance stood in place for a second before turning back towards his dorm.

"Yeah, maybe," he smiled. Despite having one of the strangest, most stressful nights he could've thought to start the year, he was glad it happened. Keith clearly wasn't going to become his best friend or even his friend at all, but Lance was glad to have met him. He was an enigma of a boy, and Lance was intrigued.

When he got back to his dorm he found Hunk and Shay sitting on the futon with concerned expressions. Once Lance walked in they both perked up.

"There you are!" Hunk exclaimed, "We lost you in the kitchen and then when the party got busted you were nowhere to be found. What happened?"

"Oh, uhm, Shiro introduced me to this guy and I was with him. We were on the roof when the cop showed up so we ran through the woods," Lance shrugged it off despite how insane it sounded.

"Who'd he introduce you to?" Shay peered over Hunk's shoulder to ask.

"His name's Keith," Lance answered. Hunk and Shay exchanged a worried glance.

"Keith Kogane? Black everything, giant dick head, lots of tattoos?" Hunk asked. Lance nodded though slightly irritated with Hunk's description. "Lance stay away from him."

"Why? I mean he was kinda douchey but he seems nice," Lance was confused.

"Seriously, Lance, I'm doing you a favor. Stay away from him," Hunk deadpanned.

"What's so bad about him?" Lance honestly didn't understand. Shiro seemed like a genuine guy and he clearly liked Keith.

"It's not really my place. You can ask him, or Shiro is you really want. But, don't get close to him. He's done some fucked up stuff and I don't want anything to happen to you. I'm gonna take Shay back to her room, I'll be back soon," Hunk and Shay stood up and left without another word. Lance was left feeling incredibly lost. However, he knew he wasn't going to listen to Hunk. Despite everything his roommate had just said, Lance felt he was wrong. Even if it was going to end in ruin, Lance was going to solve the enigma that was Keith.


End file.
